Google - The old edge is back. By Dec '24, in AI, I had written Google off. Now, the balance has shifted
Published: September 23, 2025
Horrible models. Gemini 2.0 Flash Experimental was a disaster – more than 50% error in my schema detection and structured output tests.
Then in Jan '25, they pushed it into production as Gemini-2.0-Flash-001.
I laughed. Tested it anyway.
- First run: 100% accuracy → luck
- Second run: 100% → coincidence
- Third run: 100% → that's a trend.
That was the instant that Google changed.
I even published my first post on it: LinkedIn post
And just for context – this wasn't casual testing, and I have used Google from day one. My first investment analysis webpage went live the same month Google did.
Today, approx. 20% of my workflow is Google-powered.
Can Gemini become the top LLM, beating Claude Sonnet-4?
A year back I would have laughed. Now – very likely.
If Google gets this right, it might reign over AI the way it does over Search – lawsuits and congressional committees notwithstanding.
The old Google is back.
As much as I love them, I wouldn't want to be in Microsoft, OpenAI, or Anthropic's shoes at this point in time.
2.0-Flash is like the old Nokia 3310
I've tested it across workflows. Schema detection + structured output in my live Mutual Fund Portfolio Processor (India) still runs on Gemini 2.0 Flash. GPT-4.1 and Sonnet-4 both miss at times. Flash hasn't failed.
Try it live: app.tigzig.com/mf-files-ai
This model is like the old Nokia 3310 - low-cost high-performance. Break it, drown it, throw anything at it, it works. Huge free tier.
Google kept shipping
- AI Studio → I built 70% of my Quant Reporting Suite UI there (rest with Cursor). Live at quants-suite.tigzig.com
- Gemini CLI → 75K GitHub stars. I use it for FastAPI servers, xlwings Lite, simple web apps. github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli
- Flash-2.5 & Pro-2.5 → solid upgrades (Pro is a token guzzler).
- NotebookLM → my YouTube time-saver (auto action items + guides). notebooklm.google
- Google Search AI Mode → very new. Replaced Perplexity & ChatGPT for me for research tasks. Blazing fast.
- Opal → for mini-apps + n8n-like workflows. opal.withgoogle.com
- Database Toolbox → web layer to connect agents to DBs. This could replace my custom connector. Google Cloud Blog
- Code Interpreter → sandboxed Python for LLM. AI Studio Code Interpreter
- URL Context → fetch and analyze live pages. AI Studio URL Context
- Google ADK (Agent Development Kit)
- Google LangExtract → structured output from long docs. Vertex AI LangExtract
- Gemini with browser use → AI Studio Browser
Performance charts, technicals & CAGR reports → built with my open-source Portfolio Analysis tools at quants.tigzig.com. Valuation metrics → Yahoo Finance.